I thought squall was a very good character, and a very good leading character.If it wasn't for squall and quistis, we wouldn't have a strong leading character.

Lots of people Love squall. Those that don't usually just don't like that he was a very depressive character. From a more artistic point one could argue that Squall's character doesn't develop as a person very much. The way he is at the start of the game is the way he ends - depressed. Some people like this because it shows stability in a character's personality but some don't like this because it makes him seem too unaffected by current events or too affected by past events.

The lack of character development seems to be a theme in Final Fantasy VIII and VIII happens to be Hero's favorite game for this reason (characters don't change).

EDIT:

Interesting to note that the villains changed a lot from beginning to end in FFVIII unlike other games where the villains are static and the playable characters are dynamic.

Squal does change though.People call him emo, but he is just doesn't trust anyone.I understand him.He at first is very quiet and distanced, because when elleon left him, he had to become self reliant, and it was hard trusting anyone, but once he became the commander of balamb garden, he had to open up, so he did so slowly.

I loved both Squall and Quistis. I could really relate to his character and Quistis was great because she didn't feel stiff in any way (as teachers usually do) and did not try to prove anything.
Besides, how was Squall emo? He never complained about anything and never came across as dark or broody. He always came across as a hero, facing his fears, just because he wasn't excentric doesn't mean he was whiny. He just didn't wanna emotionally connect with anyone, something I could relate to as well.

I think the problem is that Squall was TOO much of a dick that us as players had a hard time feeling any empathy or compassion towards him and just when it looked like he was going to change, Square would take him right back to where he started. Obviously there were a few warmer moments from him, but they were few and far between.

Personally, I didn't mind Squall, I thought the whole dark brooding loner thing was cool, but they could have made him slightly more open.